


Moonshine [fic & podfic]

by colls



Category: Andromeda
Genre: Audio Format: Streaming, Community: smallfandomfest, F/M, Podfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-29
Updated: 2010-07-29
Packaged: 2017-10-10 20:41:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colls/pseuds/colls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyr has left Andromeda. Beka is taking the edge of that sting by having a drink. Harper joins her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moonshine [fic & podfic]

**Author's Note:**

> [podfic - length 06:48 &amp; 3.3MB - [MP3](http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?tje4n448bc2m9zi) | [M4B](http://www.mediafire.com/?228c2obclt3bkmj) \- read by colls]

Beka heard the hatch open and the echo of footsteps heading towards the cockpit. She'd locked the _Maru_ but that was rather pointless when the very people she was avoiding had overriding access codes.

"There you are, Boss."

Beka didn't bother to turn around from her seat at the helm. "Here I am." She raised the bottle she'd been nursing to take another long swallow, hoping Harper would get the message.

"Yeah... well. I, uh, I've got some relays that need tuning on the sublight drives." He took a step towards the engine room. "I'm not going to be in your way, am I Boss?"

_Message received_, Beka thought. "No. I don't plan on leaving this chair until this bottle is gone. And then, I only hope I can make it as far as my bunk."

Taking her lack of silence as an opening, Harper started in on a rant. "You know, I can't believe Dylan isn't more pissed than he is. Tyr betrayed us and we all just let him go. Waltz out of here like it was nothing. Man, if I was Dylan and Tyr had done that to MY ship and crew..."

"I don't want to talk about it, Harper."

Harper's head dropped and he turned once more to leave. "Yeah. Me either."

"I do, however, want to drink about it." Beka turned to look at Harper for the first time since he'd come aboard. Realizing that she didn't want to drink alone and that he was probably hurting just as bad, she asked, "Care to join me?"

He hesitated, but was already walking towards her. "I should really get those sublights tuned."

"They'll wait. It's not like I'm going to pilot her intoxicated anyway." She turned to sit in the helm sideways while Harper sat on the step beside her. Facing each other, Beka handed him the bottle. "If you want a glass, you're going to have to get it yourself."

"Seriously, Boss? Have you forgotten where I come from?" Harper lifted the bottle to his lips and took a swig. His eyes watered, but he managed not to choke. "What the hell is this? Turpentine?"

Beka shrugged. "Some sort of moonshine Bobby left. I found it in the back room the other day."

"Well, that does it. I cannot in good conscience allow you to attempt to drink this bottle alone. It would surely kill you. Or at least make your liver revolt. While it pains me greatly, I will have to insist on drinking my share."

They spent the next few hours getting companionably drunk. Within a half an hour or so, they started telling Tyr stories. Beka recalled the time he had cooked her dinner while Harper remembered the time he had given an unconscious, Magog-infested kludge the only working life support suit when the _Maru_ was underwater. They smiled and laughed about the all the manly competition between Tyr and Dylan. How they'd always try to outdo one another, puff up their chests in a manly display of testosterone while Beka and Harper rolled their eyes. Even Rommie had found some of those times amusing.

But, as usually happens while drinking and talking of Nietszcheans, the mood soon turned sour. They sat and drank in silence for a time. Neither spoke of his condescending mannerisms and superiority complex. Privately they had each hoped Tyr was the exception and that he had somehow found outcasts like them worthy of his friendship. Apparently it was only Dylan who was worthy, and he was ultimately betrayed as well. But what did that make them? No better than they were before - grifters, salvage operators and part-time space pirates just looking for the next score.

For Beka, Tyr was just another man who left. They all did. Her dad, her brother and every lover she had ever had. They all left. Sometimes they left because she didn't measure up, sometimes she pushed them away because they didn't measure up. She'd never admit it, but she knew that a lot of her poor track record was her own fault. She knew Dylan thought she had questionable standards when it came to men. She knew better. Her problem was that her standards were too high. Well, that and apparently she had a touch of narcissism in her. She wanted to be the reason the underdog became the hero, so she kept betting on losers with grand plans. Frankly, Tyr's departure relieved her. She had come out of that encounter relatively unscathed. She wondered if that would be the case if she ever met up with him again.

For Harper, Tyr was an enigma to begin with - a lone Nietszchean. Harper had only known them in packs, and like wild dogs the only thing predictable about a pack of Nietszcheans was their unpredictability. And their cruelty. Tyr hadn't been cruel. Well, his leaving had been cruel. Harper had been getting used to him, even started to like him. He actually missed Tyr when he was gone and cheered when he had returned. Mostly, Harper was angry because he had allowed himself to begin to trust Tyr. Trusting a Nietszchean wasn't a mistake he was going to make again any time soon.

Nothing ever seems to go as you expect and people never end up where you thought they would. Both Beka and Harper wondered when Dylan's rising star was going to come crashing down around them, but neither of them said anything out loud.

Harper, not being one to wallow in self-pity for very long, started lightening the mood by telling raunchy jokes. Soon, both of them were clutching their sides and laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes.

"Ok, oh god, stop it Harper." Beka said between bouts of laughter. "I can't take anymore. I have to pee."

Beka handed Harper the bottle and attempted to stand. Not too steady on her feet, she practically fell into Harper's lap. "A lap dance, Boss?" This set off another set of giggles for both of them.

"I'm warning you, Harper. I've got to pee."

"Well, don't pee on me."

"Then help me up!"

The two stumbled past the control consoles and into the living area. Harper angled Beka into the tiny bathroom and collapsed onto her bunk beside the door. "If you're not out in 10 minutes, I'm coming in after you."

"Just don't pass out in my bunk, Harper."

Of course, that is exactly what he had done. When Beka stumbled out a few minutes later, she studied him with her hands on her hips. She thought back to where he came from, the time he first came on board and to everything they'd been through since then. _If there ever was an underdog..._ She shook her head to clear the thought. It was best not to go there. Harper was her best friend, she didn't want him leaving her like everyone else had. She reached down and took off his boots. Then, removing her own and discarding her jacket, she crawled in beside him. Harper turned and murmured, nuzzling into her neck. Beka smiled and tossed a leg over his sleeping form. Curled up like a couple drunk space pirates, they slept undisturbed by betraying Nietszcheans, Commonwealth politics or sublight engines.

****end****


End file.
